Friday, July 1, 2016

Excerpt from the Washington Post Express November 9, 2012

It’s important to catch the bugs early. If you’re moving into a rental
unit that’s been freshly painted and cleaned, there’s little chance
you’ll know they’re there. Ask around: Former residents and neighbors
might give you some history. Online resources such as Bedbugregistry.com
— which lists buildings that have had recent infestations — could help.
If
you think you’ve got bedbugs, undertake a serious inspection of your
bed and the area surrounding it. Check the sheets and mattress for blood
marks, black fecal matter or the bugs themselves, which as adults are
about the size of an apple seed. Lift your mattress, look under box
springs and bring a flashlight to check crevices. These guys are good at
hiding. “I’ve read that they can fit into a crack as flat as a credit
card,” Henry says.
If you only find a few bugs, the problem can
probably be managed without professional help — “but there’s a lot of
work involved,” says Gerard Brown, the D.C. Department of Health’s
program manager for rodent and vector control.
Kill every bug you
can find, then wash all of your clothes and bedding in hot water.
Invest in a tight cover for your mattress and box spring, available at
big-box stores that sell household goods.
If your searches regularly turn up five bugs or more, it’s time for outside help.
Capital K9
offers a range of options, from the increasingly popular dog inspections
to sniff out the bugs, to chemical treatments or an intense heating
process that warms the entire house to more than 120 degrees. Other
firms use nontoxic products — although David Hersh, president of
pest-control company A Healthy Home
(240-351-6604), says that when it comes to bedbugs, “even people
committed to the green lifestyle will go with the thermonuclear option.”

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The
more effective a treatment is the more it usually costs. Filling a
house with hot air does the best job of killing the vermin — and costs
thousands of dollars.
If the bugs were there when you moved in,
or if other units in your building are infested, your landlord may be
legally required to pay for treatment. Some landlords just decide it’s
better business to pay for eradication than acquire a bad reputation.
That’s how it worked for a man whose Northwest D.C. group house developed a problem last month.
“Our
landlord had someone come and check, and they confirmed it,” he says.
After the subsequent heat treatment, the bugs seem to be gone. “The
landlord paid for everything, and it was definitely more than $3,000.”
That
renter, who also chose to remain anonymous, is remarkably philosophical
about the bugs. “I’m not so freaked out,” he says. “I just sort of
assume this is the price you pay for living in an urban area.”

About Me

My company, A Healthy Home, provides an effective, non toxic, simple solution for killing Bedbugs, I have heard many horror stories from my clients, and I would like to share my experience and provide a forum for those suffering from the traumatic effects, and after effects, of dealing with the epidemic of Bedbugs sweeping across our city including; loss of sleep, short tempers, paranoia, and exhausted bank accounts.